DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Refcards Trend Reports Events Over 2 million developers have joined DZone. Join Today! Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile Manage Email Subscriptions Moderation Admin Console How to Post to DZone Article Submission Guidelines
View Profile
Sign Out
Refcards
Trend Reports
Events
Zones
Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
  1. DZone
  2. Data Engineering
  3. Databases
  4. The Different Reasons Behind Why We Craft API Definitions

The Different Reasons Behind Why We Craft API Definitions

Kin Lane explains the process behind creating API definitions as a learning tool and considers why we craft API definitions.

Kin Lane user avatar by
Kin Lane
·
Oct. 07, 16 · Opinion
Like (2)
Save
Tweet
Share
2.53K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

I wrote a post about the emails I get from folks telling me the API definitions contained within my API stack research, something that has helped me better see why it is I do API definitions. I go through APIs and craft OpenAPI Specs for them because it helps me understand the value each company offers, while also helping me discover interesting APIs and the healthy practices behind them.

Image title

The reason why I create API definitions and organize them into collections is all about discovery. While some of the APIs I will be putting to use, most of them just help me better understand the world of APIs and the value and the intent behind the companies who are doing the most interesting things in the space.

I would love it if all my API definitions were 100% certified, and included complete information about the request, response, and security models, but just having the surface area defined makes me happy. My intention is to try and provide as complete of a definition as possible, but the primary stop along the API lifecycle I'm looking to serve is discovery, with other ones like design, mocking, deployment, testing, SDKs, and others following after that.

Maybe if we can all better understand the different reasons behind why we all craft and maintain API definitions we can better leverage Github to help make more of them complete. For now, I'll keep working on my definitions, and if you want to contribute head over to the GitHub repo for my work and share any of your own definitions or submit an issue about which APIs you'd like to see included.

API

Published at DZone with permission of Kin Lane, DZone MVB. See the original article here.

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Popular on DZone

  • Taming Cloud Costs With Infracost
  • Building a Scalable Search Architecture
  • How and Why You Should Start Automating DevOps
  • Hidden Classes in Java 15

Comments

Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com
  • +1 (919) 678-0300

Let's be friends: